Sunday, January 9, 2011

Welcome Guest Blogger Lois Winston!

lois2010-small fileI want to thank Riley/Elizabeth for inviting me to guest on Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen, even though I write crafting mysteries, not food mysteries.
ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY GLUE GUN, just released from Midnight Ink, is the first book in my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries series. Anastasia is the crafts editor at a women’s magazine. When she’s accused of murdering the magazine’s fashion editor, she becomes a reluctant amateur sleuth in order to find the real killer and prove her innocence.


Cloris McWerther, the magazine’s food editor plays Watson to Anastasia’s Sherlock, and Cloris’s skills in the kitchen are unparalleled -- especially when it comes to her baked goods. Since Anastasia is juggling recent widowhood, two teenage sons, a semi-invalid communist mother-in-law, her Russian princess mother, and a mountain of debt -- not to mention her dead husband’s loan shark -- she rarely finds time for breakfast before she rushes off to work each morning. Thank goodness Cloris is always whipping up something to-die-for in the test kitchen.

Cloris’s Mango Macadamia Muffins


Mango Macadamia Muffins

CLORIS’S MANGO MACADAMIA MUFFINS
Yield: 15 muffins
Ingredients:
1 egg
1/2 cup low-fat sour cream
1/2 cup skim milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 tablespoons melted butter, cooled
1 cup diced mangoes (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup chopped, dried mangoes
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon chopped macadamia nuts (unsalted)
1-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar, loosely packed
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease muffin tins. Place liquid ingredients and egg in blender and mix together at low speed. Fold in mangoes, dried mangoes, and 1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts.

In a separate bowl mix together remaining ingredients except for the tablespoon of chopped macadamia nuts.

Fold the mango mixture into the dry ingredients until evenly blended.
Fill muffin tins 3/4 full. Sprinkle remaining macadamia nuts over top.
Bake 20 minutes. Cool 5-10 minutes before removing muffins from pans. Enjoy!
***
Glue Gun-full sizeIn celebration of the release of ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY GLUE GUN, Lois is doing a blog tour throughout January. You can find the schedule on her website, http://www.loiswinston.com, and at Anastasia’s blog, http://www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.com. Everyone who posts a comment to any of the blogs over the course of the month will be entered into a drawing to receive one of 5 copies of ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY GLUE GUN. (If your email isn’t included in your comment, email her privately at lois@loiswinston.com to let her know you’ve entered.) In addition, she’s also giving away an assortment of crafts books on selected blogs during the tour, so look for those as well.

23 comments:

  1. The mango macadamia muffins (say that fast 3 times!) look scrumptious! I'm excited about ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY GLUE GUN and will toss my hat in the ring for a copy. If I don't win, I'll just take myself over to the bookstore and buy it! Thanks for sharing the recipe, Lois!

    janezfan(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  2. Looking forward to reading your book, Lois--and trying out those muffins! Thanks so much again for guest posting today. :)

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  3. Thank you, Kay and Better is Possible! And thanks again for inviting me, Elizabeth/Riley!

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  4. Thanks for joining us today, Lois! Mangoes are among my favorite fruits. I'll have to try your recipe. Thanks for sharing!

    ~ Krista

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  5. The mango Macadamia muffins sounds really good. You can't go wrong with those ingredients. Thank you for sharing this. Congarts on your realize I will have to add this to my tbr list that just keeps growing with great authors.

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  6. Thanks, Krista! Hope you enjoy the muffins.

    Thanks for adding me to your TBR pile, Babs!

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  7. Welcome, Lois. Cute title for your book. Thanks for the muffin recipe! It'll be fun to try.
    ~Avery
    AveryAames.com

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  8. Looking forward to reading your book.

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  9. My dear Lois - I am lovin’ your muffins, full of nuts and exotic fruit—exactly the same reason I know I’m going to love your new mystery series. Dry humor, fun plotline, and an LOL cast of characters. You’ve got a winner, baby. Congrats and TY for taking the time and trouble to stop by our *virtual* Kitchen to let us know about it. You don’t have to include me in your contest. I’ll happily buy your book retail. Capisce? Now I’m off to Tweet about you. (On that twitter thing. No parrots involved.)

    Cheers,
    ~ Cleo
    Who lives in Queens, but is not a Communist
    Coffeehouse Mystery.com
    Cleo Coyle on Twitter

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  10. Thank you, Dru!

    And thank you, Cleo! For everything!

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  11. Lois,
    I have never ever cooked with mangoes!!! This will be a fun recipe to try. Congrats on your new book and thanks for coming by to further add to my increasingly big recipe file!!

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  12. Yum, the muffins sound wonderful, as does the book! I look forward to reading it, whether I win or not!

    Always a good blog to follow!

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  13. Not sure if my email goes with that comment, but it's keizerfire@aol.com

    Thanks! Lisa

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  14. Lois, you turn up in the strangest places.
    I wouldn't mind a muffin.
    Hope I win a book.

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  15. I'm with Kay. Who could pass up such an alliteratively titled recipe? Go Anastasia and Cloris! :-)

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  16. Sorry to chime in so late, but what a great recipe, Lois! Love it! And I love the title of your book. Can't wait to read it. Thanks for being part of Mystery Lovers' Kitchen today!

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  17. These look wonderful, Lois!!So glad you posted this.

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  18. I've never been as interested in muffins as I am in books. Both of these sound great! Thanks for the recipe. I can hardly wait to try the muffins. Thanks for a shot at the book. I'll buy if I don't win. :)

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  19. I'll be trying these muffins for sure.
    Theresa N
    weceno(at)yahoo(dot)com

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